2010-2011 Game 38: Denver Nuggets 130 Miami Heat 102

Two days ago, the Miami Heat looked unbeatable as they tore through the schedule with ease, winning 19 of 20 games including 13 in a row on the road. Meanwhile, the Nuggets shaky season was starting to come off the rails. After a 3 game losing streak, Josh Kroenke and Masai Ujiri seemed all but certain to blow the lifeless roster up, punching fans in the gut by trading their 2 best players away for future assets and savings. Last night the Miami Heat were the vulnerable ones and the Nuggets were the team doing the punching.

I said in the preview yesterday that the Nuggets seemed to be catching the Heat at their weakest, off a west coast back to back in which their best player was injured. Lebron didn’t play last night and the Heat didn’t have the energy or depth to overcome it. For the second straight game, the Nuggets execute a balanced offensive attack and ride a scoring explosion from the bench to an easy blowout win.

The Heat looked to control tempo and used a zone defense early to start the game. The Nuggets responded with great passing to find the open man but were missing a lot of shots. On the other end, Miami’s offense looked flat footed and settled for too many jumpers. The Nuggets ball movement was superior, and thanks to 9 early assists they took a 3 point lead into the second quarter despite the slow pace and neither team playing very well.

In the second quarter, George Karl again went to a small lineup featuring Arron Afflalo and four subs. Melvin Ely and Al Harrington did an admirable job defending Erick Dampier and the Heat “bigs”, with Ely filling the Chris Andersen role nicely. On Miami’s end, their already lethargic offense died when Dwyane Wade went to the bench. Mike Miller was passive, Chris Bosh couldn’t get his hands on the ball and the disinterested Heat couldn’t get anything going at all. A key stretch occurred around the 6 minute mark when Ty Lawson hit a driving layup in traffic, then stole the inbounds pass, grabbed an offensive board off his own miss and passed out to JR Smith for an open three. This gave Denver their first double digit lead and they never looked back.

The pace of the game picked up furiously and a confident Nuggets team couldn’t be stopped. An unconscious JR Smith started flame-throwing triples from deep. Arron Afflalo got physical with a tired Wade early and never allowed him to get going. Nene destroyed Ilgauskas and Dampier. The Nuggets didn’t stop passing and playing hard en route to 31 assists and another 30-point lead going into the fourth. It was a total team effort and a sobering loss for Miami knocking them back down to earth.

It’s easy to look past these wins with the gloom of a post-Melo world hanging over. Denver is a good team at home and bad on the road. The Heat were on a tough back to back and missing the league MVP. Inspired by Jeremy’s post earlier, I can’t put together a clear case against anyone for the current dilemma all Nuggets fans face. I’ve been as cynical as my mind will allow me about this team’s future and the fact Melo won’t be a part of it. I know what the harsh reality of rebuilding means. Yet as a fan, against my best judgment I can’t help but believe in how special this team is – a team with a star at its core that can blow out Miami without really surprising anyone. Time may be running out for this inconsistent, road weary, small-market underachieving team. But these are the best of times and the worst of times too, and I can’t help but enjoy every fleeting moment we have left.

Additional Nuggets

Birdman didn’t play and will miss a week to rest his ailing back and knee. Shelden Williams and Melvin Ely stand to pick up the slack and the Nuggets might not miss much. Since he started breaking down last year, Birdman hasn’t had an impact defensively.

During the TNT broadcast, “The Czar” Mike Fratello stated he had spoken to Nets front office people who disputed reports that Denver backed out of a trade they thought was agreed to. He said it was “not true at all. It never happened and nothing was agreed to.” Fratello is currently part of the local TV broadcast crew for New Jersey.

JR Smith could have seriously boosted his shooting percentages, as he had a game going similar to Afflalo’s 31 point, 11-14 shooting performance vs Phoenix. Entering garbage time, JR smith chucked a few too many threes early in the shot clock and ended up “only” making 10/17 shots total

During another point in the broadcast, the TNT cameras caught Masai Ujiri and Josh Kroenke in their club level seats, texting away furiously on their cell phones. I can only imagine TV sets all over the New Jersey area suffered verbal and physical abuse as a result.

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Welcome to the Western Conference Healtes. Things are done a little differently and tougher out here. I know it was only one game (two if you count losing to the Clips) and they were without LBJ, but it really felt good to stick to those guys. Bosh was back to his Toronto form, a few outside jumpers but soft anywhere close to the basket. And Wade was a mere mortal who looked tired and disinterested. It is clear they aren’t the same without James. It is a good thing they got him to take his talents down to South Beach.

Eric

I was at the game last night, and it was striking just how lopsided it was. The 28 point margin felt more like 40 in person.

Watching the game, and watching several others earlier this year, I’m actually not convinced that the Nuggets are going to be THAT much worse without Melo. It obviously depends on what they get back, but they have two terrific point guards (or one, at least, if Billups gets traded), a terrific big man, a couple of dynamic young sg/sf types, and a host of role players. And a top-notch coach. What’s not to like?

I don’t think I’m wearing rose-colored glasses here. I honestly think they’ll be just fine. They won’t win a championship anytime soon, but I don’t think they’ll be back to being a doormat anytime soon either.

magster

Just can’t tell you how nice it is to have more than one blog to read about Nuggets news since you’ve come on board here. Love Denverstiffs, but there’s room in this town for two Nugget blogs.

Clayton

I am right there with you Eric. As long as they don’t give up too many pieces that are critical in a trade of Melo, this is still going to be a good (if not better) team. Sure it could be a contending team if Melo stayed and took his head out of his butt, but that ship has sailed. I don’t blame him for leaving, it is a fact of life. But if they keep things close and get even a small piece to replace, it could still be fun and playoff worthy. A real team we could still get behind.